Learning to fly, one mistake at a time
Hello,
Welcome to my little part of the internet about learning to fly! As a slightly older guy now in my 50s, who took up flying later in life, I am trying to share my own experiences and insights with you.
Learning to fly has been a dream of mine since I was a young boy, but I never had the opportunity to pursue it until later in life. It has been an exhilarating journey filled with challenges, triumphs, and a newfound sense of freedom.
I'm hoping to inspire others who may have similar dreams of taking to the skies. Whether you are a young person just starting out, or someone who, like me, has waited until later in life to pursue this passion, I believe that anyone can learn to fly with dedication, commitment, and the right mindset. So buckle up, let's take flight and explore the world of aviation together!
My journey first started in 2021, and this site together with YouTube to a certain extent is an attempt to document my experiences in the hope it will help others. I have had ups and downs, learning to fly is not easy, but it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever attempted.
Hopefully you will learn from some of my experiences, and enjoy learning to fly and flying as much as I have done.
A number of people have asked why the Whiskey Alpha Pilot name? Well it's Wayne Allen Pilot in the phonetic alphabet. It is that simple.
Start Here is well here. You are already here. Videos is easy. Thumbnails and Links to all the videos on my YouTube Channel. The Touch and Go Logbook, is basically my logbook, not of each individual flight, but the most notible occurances, as well as the odd comment of being a GA pilot in the modern world. AirFiled Reviews is a growling list id guess what Airfield Reviews - all my own experiences, and Kit Reviews is the same, but for the flying related kit I have bought. Lastly we have the Social Bits - all the places you can find me all over the internet.
Look, mum, no instructor! Yes it's true. I flew without an instructor and, more importantly to me anyway, I've managed to create another video from another flight in a month. God, is my channel coming back to life? Could I be doing more flying? Yes.
This is a quick bimble up to Silverstone to de-rustyfy myself before yet another flight with Jack later in the day. There might even be a video of that one coming as well. It wasn't too bad. A little bit rusty, but I managed to remember how to do the radio, which was better than the Tower, who managed to forget who I was on the way back.
Little bit of a problem with the audio. I bought myself a shiny new recorder, a Zoom R4, multitrack super-duper all-singing all-dancing wonder machine. It recorded the flight beautifully, and then when I flew again later it recorded straight over the original. Not wiped, not lost, just cheerfully dubbed over the top of the one I wanted. Who comes up with these designs? Clearly not pilots, or YouTubers.
Anyway, I managed to recover some of the audio from the onboard cameras, and you've got my head popping up from time to time for the juicy bits. The real question is, did I manage to park the landing? Did I manage to avoid the pylons on the approach? I'll let you decide. No doubt numerous people will be commenting on how bad my landing is and how I really need to fly with an instructor. But then that's what I've been doing, and people comment about that too. You can never win. But that's YouTube.
Hope you like it. If you do, please consider leaving a comment. And if you don't, please consider leaving a comment. How else will I know what you like? Or what I like? It's YouTube. You know how it works.
There's a man carved into a Dorset hillside who has been showing off for about a thousand years. The Cerne Abbas Giant. Fifty-five metres of chalk, a club in one hand, and absolutely nothing in the way of clothing. You can probably picture him. Most people can.
Back in 2022 we went looking for him from the air. It was a Compton Abbas run, Caz in the right seat and David along for the ride, and somewhere in the plan I'd decided we'd go and find the famous chap on the hill. The one with a big 'club' Spotting a chalk figure from a Cessna sounds easy. It is not. You're craning over the glareshield, trying to match a lumpy green hillside to a picture in your head, while also, you know, flying the aeroplane. We found him in the end. He's hard to miss once you're in the right valley, which is sort of his whole point.
There are some people you carry with you long after you've stopped sitting in their classroom. Léon Ellison was one of mine.
Léon was one of my electronics tutors at Royal Holloway. A genius and a gentleman, in that order and both completely. The kind of teacher who made hard things feel reachable, and who treated a slightly-lost undergraduate like the engineer he hoped you'd one day become. I owe him more than I ever told him.
It's true. I hadn't flown in months. November last year was the last time I was in the air. There was an abortive attempt to go night flying in December but circumstances canned that idea. So weather, work, more work, and then the annual appearing just as the weather improved all combined to keep me from flying. Well, that is my excuse, but the real answer is I also got a little lazy, finding excuses to not get my flight bag out and plan a flight. It was easier to start up Netflix than start up SkyDemon. The aerodrome was still there. KK was still there. I just kept finding reasons not to be there.
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